Saturday, July 17, 2010

KalimNews: Sixth round of Tripartite talks will be held on 24th July. GJMM has received the information and invitation for the talks from the Home Ministry. Ajay Maken the Minister of State in the Ministryof Home Affairs will represent the Central Government and the talks will be centered in a single agenda of Gorkhaland informed Dr H.B.Chhetri, the spokesperson of GJMM in Kalimpong Today. The talks will be held at 3pm in 119 conference Room of North Block , Delhi.

In view of the talks the proposed strike to start from 25th July is withdrawn and from 22nd rallies throughout the proposed Gorkhaland area will be organised. A grand rally is also organised on 24th at 3pm during the talks hour. On 22nd a public meeting is arranged in Darjeeling informed Chhetri during a press conference.It is reminded that the tripartite talks among the Center, the state and the GJMM was initiated with the first round of talks held on 8 September 2008 and the second on 29 December 2008. The third round was held on 11 August 2009, the fourth round on 21 December 2009 at Darjeeling while the fifth round of talk was held on 18 March 2010 in the political level.

Morcha leaders Roshan Giri (left) and Binay Tamang show the invitation letter for the tripartite meeting. Picture by Suman Tamang

TT, Darjeeling, July 17: The Centre has convened tripartite talks with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and the Bengal government on July 24, a day before the hill party was to start a series of general strikes including a 40-day shutdown.

Sources in the Morcha, buoyed by the announcement after being on the back foot since the May 21 murder of Madan Tamang, hinted that the strikes would be called off.

The fate of the tripartite meeting — the second round of political talks and the sixth overall — had been hanging in the balance since the murder of Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League leader Tamang, allegedly by Morcha supporters.

The embattled Morcha had threatened a hills shutdown if the talks dates were not finalised before July 24.

Morcha president Bimal Gurung yesterday received a fax from N.S. Kalsi, joint secretary in the Union home ministry, saying the talks on the “Gorkhaland issue” would be held in New Delhi on July 24 under the chairmanship of junior home minister Ajay Maken.

The last round of political-level talks had been held in New Delhi on March 18 and was attended by Union minister of state for health Dinesh Trivedi and Bengal ministers Asok Bhattacharya and Surjya Kanta Mishra.

Although the next round of political-level talks was to be held in mid-May, it landed in jeopardy following Tamang’s murder. The Centre’s decision to hold the talks has therefore come as a boost for the Morcha.

Any breakthrough on the Gorkhaland issue is, however, unlikely with Gurung having already announced that his party would no longer be discussing an interim set-up for the hills.

“The chapter on the interim set-up is closed. We will only talk about a separate state,” Gurung had told a rally in Darjeeling on May 30.

The previous round of political-level talks had been centred on the interim set-up, a proposal about which had earlier been submitted by the Morcha to the Centre. The Centre and the Bengal government have made it clear they are only prepared to discuss the interim set-up at this juncture.

Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri said: “In the run-up to the meeting, we will organise a series of rallies and public meetings from July 21 to 24 across the area that we want within Gorkhaland. Party chief Bimal Gurung will also address a public meeting in Kurseong on July 20 followed by another meeting in Darjeeling on July 22.”

Asked if the party would go ahead with the general strikes, Giri said: “Our party president will be making an announcement.”

But Morcha sources indicated the strikes would be withdrawn to create a “congenial atmosphere” for the talks.

In Calcutta, state home secretary Samar Ghosh confirmed the meeting. “The next round of political-level talks will be held on July 24,” he said.

The Opposition parties in the hills, which had been demanding that other parties too be invited to the talks, hit out at the Bengal government.

“The state government was maintaining it would not sit for talks with people accused in Tamang’s murder,” said Shekar Chhetri, leader of the Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists (CPRM), the hills’ second-largest party.

“We do not think that this CPM government will give us justice. Now we will approach the Trinamul Congress,” CPRM spokesperson Taramoni Rai said.

“From the manner in which the state government is dealing with the Morcha, we are sure that there is an understanding between them.”

The home ministry fax said the talks would be held “at 3pm at the Conference Hall (Room No. 119, North Block, New Delhi) of the ministry of home affairs”.

State fumes

TOI, KOLKATA: The sixth round of tripartite talks on Darjeeling will be held in New Delhi on July 24. The home ministry, much to the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government’s disappointment, has called the "political-level" talks a day ahead of GJM’s bandh call in the hills.
Home secretary Samar Ghosh said on Saturday: "The tripartite talks will be held on July 24. The chief minister will decide who will attend." But it’s not certain if the state government will se-nd a representative — political or otherwise — to Delhi.
The government is reading this as the Centre’s "unnecessary acknowledgment" of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung’s call for tripartite talks — even while Darjeeling has gone into a frenzy after Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League president Madan Tamang’s gruesome murder on May 21.
A fuming urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya, who is also Siliguri MLA, told TOI on Saturday: "It makes no sense. Home minister P Chidambaram should first tell GJM to withdraw their agitations before announcing tripartite talks."

Charitra with 28 stories and 4 articles published

KalimNews: Charitra Publication of Kalimpong released its 12th volume of Charitra in the form of a collection of stories and research based analytical articles. In a programme held at Nature Interpretation Center here in Kalimpong, Sahitya Academy Award recipient Samiran Chhetri Priyadarshi released the book edited by Sanjay Bistha and Hira Chhetri. In the programme eminent writers and poets of Kalimpong, Sikkim, Darjeeling and other places were present. In the programme conducted by Sudhir Chhetri and chaired by BR Chhetri, Sahadeo Giri the Chief Editor narrated the publication's 25 years of journey.Bindhya Subba, Dr. Kavita Lama, Pravin Rai Jumeli, Raj kumar Chhetri, Munnu Gautam and Samiran Priyadarsi addressed the audience. Samiran Priyadarshi was also felicitated by Charitra Publication.

ENS, KOLKATA: The Centre does not have any problem if Gorkhaland is eked out of Bengal as a separate state. However, the state government should agree to part with this portion of the state amicably. The Centre will not encourage the Gorkhaland sympathisers if they try to meet the demand by using coercion. Former Union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, now a Rajya Sabha MP, emphasised this at a panel discussion organised at La Martiniere for Boys on Friday. This was part of a series of year-long programmes that have been lined up as part of the school's 175th-year celebrations. The panel discussed the topic, Is Federal Democracy a Hindrance to India's Unity?' where, apart from Gorkhaland, Maoist offensives also came up. Among the other speakers were former MP and former state minister Mohammed Selim, political scientist Bonita Aleaz and Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) activist and Darjeeling-based educationist Amar Rai. The discussion was moderated by Union minister of state and Trinamool MP Sougata Roy. "I don't see anything wrong with the Gorkhaland demand. In the past, states have been created to suit ethnic groups, communities etc. I remember how peeved Tamilians were when the demand for Andhra Pradesh started and when Andhra Pradesh finally went to the Telugus. But has anyone suffered because of it? However, GJM should convince the state government before trying to impress the Centre," Aiyar said. The fact that the Maoist problem was posing a serious threat to our unity, was brought up for discussion by every speaker. "Your state is one of the worst affected, but I have no choice but blame the respective state governments for this situation. If tribals find that their land is getting grabbed so that multinational corporates can start projects there, there will be resistance," explained Aiyar. Almost on these lines, Aleaz stated that misreading the instruments of the succession act of 1947 led to several problems like Maoism, terrorism in Kashmir and more recent issues like Telangana and Gorkhaland. She said financial liberalisation was suddenly imposed on the country, though it was "not prepared" for it. Economic disparity among people is the primary reason behind the country's disunity, felt Md Salim. Amar Rai stressed that the Constitution does not say that the boundaries of the state are sacrosanct.

CWG Baton went missing for 2 hours

Voice of Sikkim, 17 July, Gangtok: The Queen’s CWG Baton which arrived at Sikkim on 16 July was proposed to reach Nathu-La an Indo-China Border. The Queen’s Baton was reported missing for two long hours due to negligence of Delhi QBR team at Kupup nearby Nathu-La. Kupup has a World’s Highest Golf Course, the Baton went missing after visiting Nathu-La. According to the information Delhi QBR team violated the security measures, the Sikkim Police recovered the Queen’s Baton after two hours.

Media on asking Sikkim Olympic Association Authority over the incident said that the entire programme of Queen’s Baton Relay was carried out in a systematic manner as per the schedule but the incident that erupted today is a grave concern.

>Mountaineers hold the Queen’s baton for the Commonwealth Games at Nathula in Sikkim (PTI)

When asked to Queen’s Baton relay director Kuldeep Banshtu about the incident he said that he has been keenly participating in the programme in entire country since past many days so there is nothing big to take it seriously unto it. The Police on other hand said to the media that QBR was taken by the team who came along with the Baton and they did not follow the preset direction. The police also told to the media that it took them long way to find where the Baton was taken. Although the XIX Commonwealth Games which is going to be held in New Delhi is a prestigious international event, the incident that occurred today in fhe frontier where a team broke the rules is something unexpected.

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